Policy change for BBC

The response to my request last month for your views as to whether clues leading to acronyms as solutions, like BBC or GCHQ, which are not pronounced as words, should be given letter counts of (3) and (4) was pretty conclusively in favour of a change of policy on the grounds that (1,1,1) and (1,1,1,1) make the whole game too easy. There were, though, some strong voices against any change. Joan B. took the view that, if we were going to move in this radical direction, setters should be asked to come up with indicators in such clues that the solution was not spoken as a single word. David M. took the view that a crossword should do what it says on the label, namely be made up of words, which would exclude the likes of BBC entirely. John R. took the view that, as people would be happy with BBC FOUR being shown as (3,4) they should also be happy with BBC as (3). It is a difficult call, on a par with a decision I had to make soon after I started to edit the Guardian crosswords as to whether it should continue to be E-MAIL (1-4) or should be changed to EMAIL (5). But, as the buck stops here, I think that the time has come to move on and introduce the radical new policy of making the BBC into (3). I know only too well that one thing can lead to another and that such a move may have unforeseen consequences. I can only pray that I am not quickly forced by events into having to make a humiliating U-turn._____When we are always reading reports of how much time people now spend sitting alone in front of a computer screen it is a delight to discover that online crosswords are also bringing people together, both virtually and in person. This applies particularly to the Guardian Quick crossword, where the comment facility online under each puzzle has led to the development of the Guardian QCC, or Quick Crossword Club. (Incidentally, though like all clubs the QCC has its hard core regulars, who may seem a bit intimidating to potential newcomers, I have been asked to point out that it is in no way an exclusive institution. There is no question of having to be invited to join and membership is free.)In May a group of QCC regulars decided to meet in Edinburgh. Nine of them made it in person, but during their gathering linked via Skype to others all over the world and, clearly, a good time was had by all. An account of the event can be read in the comments under Quick crossword No 13,115 for 22 May, posted at 10:08 and 10:09 that day. You can also see a video of the gathering at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlsOj1h3M8Y&feature=youtu.be . _____Alan Connor's blog of 31 May on the crossword home page is an interview with Niall MacSweeney about his recent experiment in measuring the level of difficulty of the cryptic puzzles in various newspapers. His methodology was to take all the puzzles in the Guardian, Observer, Financial Times, Independent, Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Times and Sunday Times for the month of March and, doing a couple or so a day, to see how long it took him to solve them. The results are fascinating, though obvious caveats need to be entered. The same solver was involved each time, but we all have good days and bad days. Most setters have easier and harder puzzles and most will have had only one or two puzzles published in March. However, taking the averages for the month, the Independent, Guardian and Times came out as the hardest and at about the same level of difficulty, though these averages covered a wide range. (One Araucaria puzzle took Niall 75 minutes and another 41; one Rufus took him 7 minutes and another 20; one Times puzzle took him 103 minutes and another only 15.) The Financial Times was on average significantly easier than the first three and, of the dailies, the Telegraph was consistently the easiest, though its Toughie puzzle was up with the first three. Anyone interested in seeing a spreadsheet of the full results should send an email to niallmacsweeney@hotmail.com. _____The May Genius puzzle (No 107 set by Puck) attracted another large entry, despite some controversy as to whether COLLEDIG is not a more usual translation in Welsh for 'lost' than GOLLWYD, which, of course, is a mutation from a declension of the verb COLLI ('to lose'). I do not feel myself fully qualified to adjudicate in this matter, but by the deadline, 401 of you seemed to have been happy with GOLLWYD and 75 of you managed to complete the puzzle by the end of the first day. The first three in were bunched: Ian at 01:29, Tony at 01:33 and Dave at 01:41. Then there was a slight gap until Ian from SW3 at 02:22. The first overseas entry was from psc in Australia at 03:05.

Congratulations to Duncan Taylor from East Lothian, who is May's winner.

About this article

Policy change for BBC

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 10.30 EDT on Monday 4 June 2012.
It was last modified at 23.11 EDT on Tuesday 3 June 2014.
It was first published at 09.57 EDT on Monday 4 June 2012.